Cleric / Wizard

The Clizard, a mage who taps into both divine and arcane magic.

Once a man of the cloth, our mage found enlightenment in the study of ancient tomes and innovation through magical
research. He remembers the annals of his god and wields holy magic as needed, but the arcane is now his most potent
weapon.

The “Clizard” is a fun nickname for this cleric-wizard multiclass, which will probably be the most complicated of the three
builds (though not by much). The multiclass opens up our options by a lot, but we’re going to focus on combining the School
of Abjuration wizard with the Knowledge domain cleric. Also, multiclassing is an optional rule in 5e, so make sure your DM
allows it if you want to play a Clizard.

We exchange some of our wizard spell progression for access to healing and buffs from the cleric spell list. This build also
gains access to medium armor and shield proficiency and features granted by a cleric domain. There’s no change in the spell
slots you’ll have access to because both wizards and clerics count the same towards slot progression. But, you’ll have to keep
track of prepared spells for each class. For example, you have access to only 1st-level cleric spells while you’ll learn higher-
level wizard spells as you level up.

What this build is good for

•Being durable. Multiclassing into cleric gives our Clizard medium armor and shield proficiencies. This means that you’ll
have about 16 to 19 Armor Class (AC) depending on your Dexterity and armor. These proficiencies also free you up from
having to learn the mage armor spell.

•Extra healing and utility. A single level of cleric lets us prepare at least two spells from the cleric spell list. Now your
wizard can also heal and buff using spells they don’t normally get!

•More cantrips. Cantrips are at-will spells that let you do magic without using spell slots. They do damage, provide utility,
and even buff characters. Multiclassing usually gives spellcasters a lot more cantrips than usual. Once you’ve multiclassed at
level 2, you’ll have a total of at least seven cantrips.

•More prepared spells. Since you prepare spells for each class separately, you will have, on average, more spells at your
disposal each day. It’ll be up to you how to use your spell slots, though. Cleric domains also automatically give some freebie
prepared spells.

Build Details
•Use the standard array for ability scores to get the following: 15 Intelligence, 14 Wisdom, 13 Dexterity, 12 Constitution, 10
Strength, 8 Charisma. You want at least a 13 in both Intelligence and Wisdom for multiclassing. Having at least 12 Dexterity
works well with medium armor. Anything else, you could switch around.

•Starting off as human will bump up all of your ability scores by 1. If your DM allows variant human, use that option instead.
Use the variant human racial ability score bumps to increase Intelligence to 16 and Dexterity to 14; take War Caster for the
free feat.

•Choose backgrounds that fit with your character concept, or for skills proficiencies you really want. Sage or Acolyte are pretty
safe bets for our Clizard, though.

•Start at level 1 in the cleric class. We begin with cleric because it gives us more hit points as well as the medium
armor/shields proficiency early.

•Pick the Knowledge cleric domain. You now have the command and identify spells constantly prepared. You also choose two
skills from Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion to have expertise in.
•You can prepare a number of cleric spells equal to your cleric level (1) plus your Wisdom modifier. Always prepare healing
word and shield of faith. If you have over 13 Wisdom, choose the others from the following: bless and sanctuary.

•At level 2, take your first level in wizard. From here on, you’ll only be taking levels in the wizard class.

•At level 3, you’ll gain the arcane recovery feature and an arcane tradition. For the tradition, choose the School of Abjuration.
You will need to cast an abjuration spell to activate your Arcane Ward, so shield of faith works really well here! The ward will
have hit points equal to twice your wizard level plus your Intelligence modifier, and it will absorb damage in your stead until
it reaches 0 hit points.

•Every time you gain an Ability Score Increase, make sure to increase your Intelligence by 2 until you reach a score of 20.
Afterward, consider increasing your Constitution score. If your game uses feats, take War Caster or Resilient (Constitution) if
you had not already acquired one or the other.

•As you increase your wizard levels, you will gain the following:

•At cleric 1/wizard 6, the ability to shield your allies using your ward.

•At cleric 1/wizard 10, you get to add your proficiency bonus to ability checks that are part of casting a spell (like with
counterspell and dispel magic). This feature makes you especially potent against enemy mages.

•At cleric 1/wizard 14, you gain advantage on saving throws against spells and halve all damage you take from them for
even more durability!

•For your Spell Mastery feature at level 18, take shield and misty step. You can now cast those spells as often as you like! This
gives you persistent tankiness (when you’re not counterspelling) and fantastic bonus action mobility. Casting shield also
replenishes your arcane ward, so it works even better!
Spell Selection

Spellcasting is the biggest part of any spellcasting class. You’ll likely find spells that fit your needs for specific situations, so
don’t hesitate to make those choices. Since you have access to some cleric spells, your choices are a more varied, too! Here are
my recommended picks that are just great all around for the Clizard:

•Cleric cantrips: guidance, spare the dying, sacred flame

•Cleric 1st-level spells: healing word, bless, sanctuary, shield of faith

•Wizard cantrips: fire bolt, mage hand, minor illusion, prestidigitation, toll the dead (XGtE)

•Wizard 1st-level spells: absorb elements (XGtE), detect magic, find familiar, magic missile, protection from evil and good,
shield, sleep, thunderwave

•Wizard 2nd-level spells: hold person, invisibility, mirror image, misty step

•Wizard 3rd-level spells: blink, counterspell, dispel magic, fireball, protection from energy

•Wizard 4th-level spells: banishment, dimension door, greater invisibility, otiluke’s resilient sphere, polymorph

•Wizard 5th-level spells: Bigby's hand, far step (XGtE), hold monster, synaptic static, telekinesis

•Wizard 6th-level spells: globe of invulnerability, mass suggestion, sunbeam, Tenser's transformation (XGtE)

•Wizard 7th-level spells: crown of stars (XGtE), etherealness, forcecage, plane shift, simulacrum

•Wizard 8th-level spells: antimagic field, feeblemind, maze, mighty fortress (XGtE)

•Wizard 9th-level spells: imprisonment, invulnerability (XGtE), true polymorph, wish